More than £115 million will be spent on improving Coventry's roads and cycle lanes in a bid to encourage people to ditch driving and take up greener ways to get around Coventry.

A large chunk of the money will go on the Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) project which, working with the University of Warwick, is planned to be operational by 2026.

Cllr Jim O'Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change at Coventry City Council, said he was "really pleased" at the news. 

Projects funded by the "significant" fund will help the authority tackle climate change, he said in a statement.

Most of the funding comes from the government's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), which the city council successfully bid for.

Other money comes from the West Midlands Combined Authority's (WMCA) Active Travel Fund and Sustrans' Paths for Everyone funding – also secured by the council.

The multi-million pound pot will go on "a number of innovative transport schemes across the city," the authority said today.

From left: Margot James (executive chair, WMG), Prof Stuart Croft (vice chancellor, University of Warwick and Cllr Jim O'Boyle, stand on the new Coventry VLR track form

"These measures include things like targeted improvements to the road networks, the installation of new cycling and walking routes and improved connectivity across the transport system."

Coventry's transport upgrades will also be boosted by £26.8 million match funding, which is a combination of private and public sector investment.

Funding is set to be debated at a cabinet meeting later this month (30 August.)

It will then be voted on at Full Council on the 6 September.

Cllr O'Boyle said: "We have to encourage people to choose alternatives to the private car for some journeys and to do that we have to make sure that walking, cycling and public transport are attractive and viable alternatives in our city.

"That's why I'm really pleased that we've been able to secure such a significant amount of funding to help us do this.

"This funding will help us to lead a number of projects that will play a major role in the green transformation of our city's transport network.

"Along with the all-electric bus fleet, fully segregated cycle routes and more on street charge points than anywhere else outside London our ambition is to enable local people to be able to make real choices about how they travel sustainably.

"As we've said before, in Coventry we don't want to just talk about climate change. We want to actually tackle it.

"With this funding and the schemes that we get as a result of it, we'll be doing just that."